Marc Preuss grew up in a German family. His mother and father, Evelyn and Gunter, immigrated to the United States from Berlin in 1960. Marc was only two when the family came to New Orleans, so that Gunter could be the executive chef at the Roosevelt Hotel. At home, German food was for special occasions.

MATTHEW HINTON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNEFloat riders throw beads in the Oktoberfest parade in the French Quarter October 3, 2010. The event was sponsored by the German Heritage Festival Association and ended for the last time at the Deutsches Haus, 200 S. Galvez, that is soon to be demolished for the new LSU Hospital.

"My mother, " Preuss said, "cooked in a very European style, like what you would see in a nice restaurant. The traditional German food would come around during Christmas."

Preuss knew there were other German chefs in New Orleans working mainly at hotels. He remembers going to Willy Coln's Chalet on the West Bank for German food. But as a boy, Preuss never noticed the German legacy in the city around him.

"I knew nothing about it, " he said.

Only later, after he attended a hotel management school in Austria, worked in other cities and other countries, and then came home in 1994 to help his parents run Broussard's restaurant in the French Quarter, only then did he see how the Germans had contributed to the culture of his hometown.

11 OKTOBERFEST IN NEW ORLEANS

Eco Cafe

3903 Canal St., 504.561.6585

Friday, Oct. 7, 14 and 21 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Well-known Mexican chef Guillermo Peters now runs this kitchen at this Mid-City cafe. Peters' father hails from Hamburg, so he prepared a special German feast to celebrate Oktoberfest. In addition to traditional favorites, Peters has included some dishes that combine his Mexican and German heritage, like pork shanks marinated with achiote and stuffed pork loin with chipotle prune sauce. Reservations required.

Gordon Biersch

200 Poydras St., 504.552.2739

Friday through Oct. 23

The brewpub inside Harrah's created an amber lager style FestBier for Oktoberfest. The restaurant also features a special menu with German sausages, pork jaegerschnitzel and a burger served on a pretzel bun.

Barley Oak

2101 Lakeshore Drive, Mandeville, 985.727.7420

Saturday from noon to 2 a.m.

Try imported German marzen beer along American versions of Oktobefest brews. Both the downstairs and upstairs bars will be open all day. The Jubilee German band plays from 6 to 10 p.m. Free.

Broussard's

819 Conti St., 504.581.3866

Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The old-line French Quarter restaurant will transform its courtyard into a German festival grounds. Enjoy traditional dishes like bratwurst, currywurst and pork shanks along with German and German-inspired beers. The accordionist Jessie Reeks and the band Prost will play German music throughout the day. Admission $10.

The granddaddy of all local Oktoberfest celebrations relocates this year to Kenner. The event features 23 different beers and classic dishes like potato salad, beef goulash, schnitzel sandwiches and flammkuchen (also know as "German pizza"). The bands will have you up and doing the chicken dance. Admission $6, children younger than 12 and active military free.

Heiner Brau brewery

226 E. Lockwood St., Covington, 985.893.2884

The North Shore craft brewery brings Berlin to Covington with its fifth annual Oktoberfest celebration. Sample German-style beers made by brewmaster Henryk Orlik, fill up on German fare and dance to the Bavarian tunes of the Julie Council Jubilee German band. Free tours of the brewery offered on Saturday.

Oct. 14 from 5 to 9 p.m and Oct. 15 from noon to 9 p.m.

Throughout October

Avenue Pub

1732 St. Charles Ave., 504.586.9243

During October, the Lower Garden District beer mecca features rare German beers on tap.

Crescent City Brewhouse

527 Decatur St., 504.522.0571

The French Quarter brewpub has its own traditional Oktoberfest beer on tap. Throughout the month, a special three-course German meal will be available for $30. The menu, which changes weekly, features dishes like oxtail soup, roasted salmon, wiener schnitzel and apple strudel. The restaurant also features nightly live jazz.

Jager Haus

833 Conti St., 504.525.9200

This French Quarter restaurant serves German fare all year round. In October, though, it offers a menu of specials like sauerbraten, beef rouladen and wiener schnitzel with fried eggs, anchovies and butter caper sauce.

Middendorf's

30160 Hwy. 51 S., Akers, 985.386.6666

Wednesdays and Thursdays through Nov. 10

Known for its thin-cut fried catfish, the lakeside institution turns its attention to Germany this month. Each week, a special entree will be available, such as schlachtplatte (smoked pork chop and pork belly) with sauerkraut, ham hocks with smothered cabbage and pork roast in cream sauce with potato dumplings. Visit middendorfsrestaurant.com for complete menus.

"When I went to Deutsches Haus for the first time, two or three years after I came home, " he said, "I looked around and said this is pretty cool."

Preuss soon learned about the German brewers who made New Orleans the beer capital of the South in the late 19th century. He found out how German farmers and bakers, like Leidenheimers, played a central role in the evolution of New Orleans cuisine.

"You learn, " Preuss said, "that there was a whole string of butchers that lived in back area of the Marigny who were providing and cutting meat for the markets."

For many New Orleanians, the annual Deutsches Haus' Oktoberfest celebration is their main exposure to German culture. The German heritage center first put on the festival in the years after World War II. And the event continues to be a popular draw for lovers of good beer, bratwurst and beef goulash, and oom-pah beats.

The Deutsches Haus in lower Mid-City was torn down last May to make way for the planned University Medical Center. For the time being, the organization has a temporary home at an American Legion post in Metairie. That space, however, can't handle the Oktoberfest crowds, so this year the Deutsches Haus' Oktoberfest will be held at Kenner's Rivertown on Oct. 14-16 and 21-23.

The group is currently searching for a permanent home. At this time, though, they can't say when their Oktoberfest festival will return to New Orleans, according to a spokesman for the Deutsches Haus.

Despite the popularity of Deutsches Haus' Oktoberfest and the growing number of German-themed menus, beer-tastings and festivals throughout the New Orleans area, Preuss still thinks not enough New Orleanians are familiar with the cuisine and cultural contributions of Germans to our city.

"We know about the French, " he said. "We know about the other founding settlers. But we really don't know about or embrace the German heritage."

Preuss and his parents have been working to do their part to raise awareness with an annual French Quarter Oktoberfest at Broussard's. This year, the festival is on Saturday.

"The festival that I'm doing, " Preuss said, "is to raise awareness that this is good stuff, from those sausages, to the pork shanks, to those cabbages, to those great beers."

The celebration has grown a bit more elaborate each year. On Saturday, the courtyard at Broussard's will become a mini-festival. German bands will play all day. Booths will sell imported and German-style beers along with hearty traditional fare. The list of food, which will be prepared by Preuss' father Gunter, includes bratwurst, grilled pork shanks and currywurst, a pork sausage with a curried ketchup sauce.

"My father's cooking is so authentic and so real, " Preuss said. "We're Germans giving you real German food."

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Todd A. Price can be reached at nodrinks@timespicayune.com. Read more about the bar scene at nola.com/drink or nola.com/bar-guide. Follow him at twitter.com/toddapricetp.